As the air travel system becomes saturated, airports are becoming more and more congested. At the busiest airports, it is not uncommon to have 50 or more aircraft taxiing to and from multiple active runways using complex routes involving many different taxiways. System capacity is at or near saturation even during good weather conditions. Ground taxi can add over one hour to travel time for any particular flight. Efficient, flexible and adaptive ground operations are essential to enhancing air travel performance. This is especially true during poor weather conditions. As visibility drops, the number of aircraft that can operate at a given airport decreases rapidly and those aircraft still operating must slow down so as not to miss a turn or a hold short point, or taxi across an active runway without clearance.
A variety of methods are currently in use for aircrews to navigate on the ground. Most of these methods involve receiving verbal instructions from air traffic control, writing them down and interpreting those instructions by looking at a paper map of the airport. To effectively use such methods, the pilot must direct attention from outside the aircraft to inside the aircraft, and simultaneously transition from verbal instructions to a visual interpretation of those instructions while looking at a paper airport diagram. During low visibility, the aircrew loses their ability to use forward and peripheral vision because ground references and other airport traffic become harder to see, forcing the aircrew to concentrate their attention outside the aircraft to ensure safe operations. Recently, some devices have enabled aircrews to electronically display and orient the airport map and even show the aircraft position on the map; however, entry and display of taxi route information could be enhanced. The invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems or disadvantages associated with the prior art.